therealciviczc

I tried to search and didn't find much, but this seems like something that I should be able to figure out....

Here is what I'm running (not the best setup, but it works) on my ZC...

Greddy Kit for 92-95 Civic
Conquest/Ghetto intercooler
HKS SS BOV
Boostvalve.com Ball Type Boost controller.
12:1 FMU

Basically what happened yesterday at the drags is as follows... I had the boostvalve set around 7lbs (or so I thought). The car always spiked up to 8.5 or so, then dropped down to 7lbs.

At the races, I would launch, the car would hold 7lbs in 1st, and 2nd gear (which don't last long), but then in third, it would spike up to about 8.5lbs, drop down to 7lbs, just like always, then as I progressed through third gear, the boost would slowly drop down to 5lbs as the rpms increased. I'm not in 4th long enough to tell if it did it in 4th too.

I never noticed this before, but I don't usually watch the gauge that long as I'm more concerned with rpm and fuel delivery. Is this just the way a ball type controller works? I'm wondering if it is so far away from the turbo that it drops in the same way that it spikes. In other words, maybe by the time the controller sees that its down to 5lbs, it closes, and the wastegate closes, I'm already in 4th???

The controller is about 7 inches from the turbo, abour 14 inches from the manifold (very loose estimates). Thats as tight of a path as I could get.

Is the turbo just so small that it can't hold 7lbs of boost in the top of third gear?

I didn't see any obvious leaks and all of my hoses are really tight.

Any thoughts or opinions? Anything obvious I should check first? I'm new to the turbo world.

Thanks for the help.

therealciviczc

Ok... it appears that it also looses boost in 4th gear, but it doesn't seem quite as bad...

ninesecrx

Maybe just leaking boost through your silicone connecters?